JUAN PERÓN
Juan Perón (8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine army lieutenant general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President, he was thrice elected President of Argentina, serving from June 1946 to September 1955, when he was overthrown in a coup d’état, and then from October 1973 until his death in July 1974. During his first presidential term (1946–52), Perón was supported by his second wife, Eva Duarte (“Evita”), and the two were immensely popular among many Argentines. Eva died in 1952, and Perón was elected to a second term, serving from 1952 until 1955. His third wife, Isabel Perón, was elected as Vice President on his ticket and succeeded him as President upon his death in 1974. Although they are still controversial figures, Juan and Evita Perón are nonetheless considered icons by the Peronists. (More from Wikipedia)
The next Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Evita – my personal favorite among the Webber shows – started out as a rock opera album that was released in 1975. In a novel move, the narrator of the story of Eva “Evita” Perón, the wife of Argentine dictator Juan Perón, is famed South American and Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara (identified only as “Che” initially). Mandy Patinkin launched his career with his Tony-winning role as Che on Broadway; on the original Evita album and in earlier productions, Che is played by Colm Wilkinson, who later became world famous in originating the role of Jean Valjean in the 1985 West End (London) and Broadway musical Les Misèrables.
(September 2016)
